


7:24 AM

by ProblemWithTrouble



Series: Pacific Rim [15]
Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Kaiju, Everyone else is there too but they're more cameos, Farmer Herc Hansen, Just two hot dads falling in love, M/M, Mechanic Stacker Pentecost, Pining, So far in the planning anyway, this is set no where and at no time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2020-05-19 05:23:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19350358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProblemWithTrouble/pseuds/ProblemWithTrouble
Summary: Stacker does not have a crush on the hot farmer that delivers produce to Alison's diner next door to his shop. That would be insane, he doesn't even know his name. Until he comes into the shop to let Stacker know that the kid he helped last week was his kid and had paid with Herc's card.Stacker doesn't choose helping Chuck fix his car as a flirting technique, he just cares about the car getting fixed right. And Herc doesn't choose bringing produce from his farm as a flirting technique, he just wants to help balance the scales a little.





	1. 7:24

Stacker Pentecost was a grown man. He had two children, he ran a small business, he was on the city council and the PTA. He was a responsible, respectable member of society. “A pillar of the community,” someone had said when they had been trying to convince him to run for mayor. As such he did not, under any circumstances, have the produce delivery routine for Alison’s Diner memorized. He did not know that if he walked out the back door into the alley behind his shop at 7:25am on Thursday he would see the hot farmer whose name he didn’t even know. If he had the urge to open the back door to allow the shop to air out at 7:24 _every_ day that was just a wild coincidence no matter what Tendo’s glance said. 

It happened to be Thursday and it happened to be 7:25 when he opened the back door to air out the space. Hot Farmer saw him the same way he did every Thursday morning and gave him a nod and wave that Stacker returned. 

Just an acknowledgement of two people who were in the same space at the same time. 

Inside, with a private smile, Stacker got back to work. Alexis would be there soon to pick up his car that had been making a clicking noise, a worn-out push rod that Stacker had finally got the part in for yesterday. Yancy had detailed the car the night before so Stacker did one final check then set the keys aside. The main thing today would working on the Wei-Tang off-road racing car that had taken a tumble two weeks before. Luckily no one had been hurt, Hu had been driving with Jin navigating but they had each just had a concussion and were laughing it off according to Cheung who had ridden in the tow truck to deliver the car to Coyote Mechanic Shop. 

Yancy showed up for his shift at nine. “Mind if I turn on the radio?” He always asked as soon as he came in.

“No. Go ahead.” Yancy was a good kid. Old enough to think that he wasn’t a kid, but good either way. Stacker was less sure of his little brother that had shown up about six months after Yancy had settled in town. 

At 9:15 Alexis came in to pick up his car and schedule the maintenance on Sasha’s by proxy. She was much better about making sure that her car was taken care of than her husband. “If it is running why worry over it?” Alexis asked with a shrug whenever Stacker talked to him about a regular maintenance checkup. 

“So, it doesn’t stop.” Stacker handed over the key after settling the bill. Alexis laughed and waved to him as he left.

Some other people brought their cars in the oil changes and to check the heaters and filters and vents. It was a good day. A busy day. Around one it slowed, and they were able to work on the cars that had been brought in the morning for pick up that night, usually the rush started about ten after five. 

Around four though the bell on the front door ran. Yancy went in to get it, grumbling that no one had better be early to pick up their car. Stacker could only make out Yancy’s bits of the conversation because he talked so loudly. “Beats the hell outta me. Let me go grab the owner.” He came back into the garage as Stacker was wiping off his hands to get ready to deal with whoever it was. 

“Some high schooler has a part that’s all fucked up and he want to know why.” 

“Alright. I finished replacing the filter so just put the cap back and run the test,” Stacker said as he made his way to the office. 

The kid couldn’t have been older than 17 with red hair and a scowl that made him look like he was imitating someone’s grandfather. He was also familiar in a way that Stacker couldn’t place. “What’s the problem?”

He handed over a fuel pump that Stacker turned over in his hand. “I bought a 73 Ford Ranchero that needed some work and the fuel pump was rusted out, so I bought that, but it won’t fit,” the kid explained. 

“73 Ranchero?”

The kid nodded.

“Where’d you buy this?”

“Ebay.”

“That’s your problem. This goes to a Volkswagen. Late 70s if I had to guess.” Stacker handed it back.

“Shit.”

Stacker nodded and went around to the computer. “I can order you the part.” He started typing on the computer and found what he was looking for. “Sixty-three after shipping.”

The kid sighed and rolled his eyes like it was the end of the world, or like he hadn’t bought the bad part himself. “Fine.” He dug in his pocket, thumbed through a few cards before handing one over. 

Stacker took a look at the card. Hercules Hansen. No way that was a real name. He put the information in anyway just in case and it cleared authorization so maybe someone had parents as weird as his. He handed the card back and printed the invoice for him to sign. The kids signed with a large H and a scribble following it and then printed his phone number at the bottom of the page to call when the part came in. “Should be a week.” 

The kid barely said “Thanks” before he was out the door. 

Back in the garage Yancy was finishing a test on one of the newer cars. He was better with the computer-based nonsense. Not that Stacker couldn’t do it. He just didn’t trust the laptop the same way he trusted his own eyes, ears, and hands.

“What was it?” 

“Kid bought the wrong part on Ebay. Volkswagen for his Ford.”

Yancy laughed and shook his head. “Dumbass.”

Stacker couldn’t help but agree.

* * *

A week later. On Thursday, at 7:24 Stacker opened the back door of his garage to let the fumes air out. Hot Farmer looked up at the noise like he always did, wooden crate in his arms. “Hey.”

“Good morning,” Stacker said automatically. It was the first time they had spoken or that Stacker had even heard his voice. It was gruff and sexy and even if there were no outward signs of it, Stacker’s pulse picked up just a little. Maybe he was as out of practice as his sister said. 

He went back into the garage as Hot Farmer went into the back of the diner. 

A few minutes later as Stacker was double checking the schedule for the day there were two sharp knocks on the metal back door. Hot Farmer was standing outside the door looking apologetic. “I know you’re not open yet, but I was hoping to chat.”

“I open in half an hour anyway. Is something wrong with the truck?”

He took two steps into the garage as Stacker went to meet him. “Truck’s fine. Or I think it is. Don’t know shit about trucks.” He shrugged. “No, my son Chuck came in last week and you ordered a part for him.” 

He’d ordered parts for a few people in the last week but only one young enough to be Hot Farmer’s son. “Hansen?”

“Yeah. He might have said his name was Hercules?” He looked like he couldn’t decide if he was annoyed or apologetic. Stacker figured if he was annoyed, he’d have to take it up with the kid. It wasn’t his problem.

“The credit card did.”

“That’s because he stole my card. You can call me Herc, by the way.” He put his hand out. “Herc Hansen.” 

Stacker shook his hand. “Stacker Pentecost. The part is going to be here tomorrow, maybe this afternoon. I can’t cancel the order.” 

Herc shook his head and laughed. “Don’t worry about that. He’s working that off. I just want to make sure you’re charging him what he owes for your time. I looked up what he bought, and it looked like you charged him just for the part and that’s really nice and as the person who got his card charged, I appreciate it. But he’s an idiot kid who bought a car he doesn’t have the first clue how to fix and I don’t want him wasting people’s time.” 

“It really didn’t take that long.” 

Herc put his hands up in surrender with a smile. “Alright. I’m not going to tell you how to run your business, but he got himself into this mess. Feel free to charge him however much you like for your time.” 

“On a card with his name on it?”

“Preferably.” Herc laughed. His eyes and smile lingered for a beat too long. “I’ll let you open up. I’ll see you around, Stacker.”

“Have a nice day, Herc.”


	2. Have A Nice Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stacker has to deal with Chuck being Chuck, Yancy being nosy, and his kids wanting to see a movie he doesn't want to see.

Through the rest of Thursday Stacker continued to play the conversation over in his mind. _Have a nice day? You used to have game, Pentecost._ Yancy came in at nine and turned on the radio and didn’t seem to notice that Stacker was a little preoccupied. He supposed if the military was good for anything it was his excellent poker face.

The part for Chuck didn’t come in until Friday. He had Yancy wait until five minutes after the final bell at the school before calling the number Chuck had left. Yancy put it on speaker phone because he had a deep hatred of actually putting it to his ear. Or being on the phone at all.

“Yeah?”

“Mr. Hansen? This is Yancy at Coyote Mechanics.”

“The part in?”

“Yes.” Stacker looked over at the office where Yancy was looking about ready to bang his head into the desk. 

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” 

“We’ll see you then.” He hung up the phone and came out of the office. “There’s somethin’ about that kid. I hate him.”

“He used his dad’s credit card to pay,” Stacker said just to watch Yancy groan. 

“How’d you find that out?”

“His dad delivers produce to Alison’s. Stopped by yesterday to let me know.”

“He’s Herc’s kid? Man, poor guy.”

He wanted to ask how Yancy knew Herc, but he had no desire to answer Yancy’s following question of why he wanted to know. Sure, he was interested in Herc but there was no proof that the man had any interest in men and Stacker wasn’t about to show his cards without more information. Especially not to Yancy who meant well but had a hard time keeping his mouth shut sometimes. 

They worked silently until the bell above the door rang. Stacker stood up and waved for Yancy to keep working. “I’ll deal with the kid.”

Chuck had a backpack slung over one shoulder. “Hello,” he said to Chuck who nodded. 

“Hi, I’m here to pick up–“

“I remember what you came for.” He picked up the small box and Chuck made a grab for it, but Stacker held it just out of reach. He pulled the invoice off the top where Yancy had put it earlier and handed just that over. “Sign this to confirm you picked it up. And please use your real name, Chuck.” 

The kid had the good sense to look ashamed for a beat, face flushing. “My dad talked to you.”

Stacker nodded. “Do you know how to install this?” 

“I can figure it out,” Chuck said, his face twisted in a sneer as he reached for the box. 

Some days Stacker was surprised by his own patience. He let Chuck take the box but started with an offhand remark to make sure that any old gaskets were completely gone before he tried to apply the new one. Before he knew it, he’d been talking for an hour and other customers were coming in and Stacker had to send Chuck off so he could take care of them. Chuck even mumbled a thank you on his way out. 

As they were closing up for the night, sweeping the garage, Yancy finally stopped shooting Stacker looks and said what he was thinking. “Herc has a stand at the farmer’s market on Sundays.” 

Stacker kept his interest to himself. “Alright.” He carefully remembered the information, filing it away in case some day he decided to try and figure out if Herc was bi. It would probably never happen, but he liked to think he might try dating again. Someday. 

Yancy was quiet for a while again. He was clocking out when he spoke again. “I’ve never seen you be that patient with a kid that wasn’t yours.”

“Yancy, your brother is obnoxious and entitled,” Stacker said, steady as ever.

They stepped out of the building and into the cool fall air. “And Chuck isn’t?”

Stacker set the alarm and locked the door. “He is. However, I care about the Ranchero he’s working on. I don’t care about the superhero movie your brother was talking about last week.”

Yancy looked ready to argue and then seemed to remember Raleigh talking for almost an hour straight without anyone getting a word in edgewise. “Fair. Later.” 

“See you tomorrow.” Stacker got into his own car and took a deep breath and tried to relax before starting the car. Yancy was right; Chuck was annoying. 

His house wasn’t anything to brag about but it was in a nice enough neighborhood with kids for Jake to play with, a basketball hoop, and everyone had their own room. It was everything Stacker ever wanted out of a house. Inside Jake was sitting at the kitchen table complaining about doing his maths until he noticed his dad. “You said I had to do the homework not like it,” Jake said, trying to stop a lecture before it started. 

“It’s nice to see you too, son. How was school?” Stacker said. Mako was on her laptop on the couch, but she closed it and slid it under the couch when she saw Stacker and took the headphones out of her ears. She had been letting Jake run out of words on his own. 

“Fine.”

“You haven’t eaten dinner?”

“Nope.” 

“Good we’re getting pizza before the movie. I’m going to take a shower; you finish your homework.” 

Jake’s face lit up. “What are we seeing?”

“Ask your sister.” He went down the hall to shower, listening to Mako and Jake discus the movie. They were seeing the movie Raleigh had been talking about at the shop last week. He’d managed to sell Mako on it and Stacker had agreed to take her and Jake. From the sound of it, Jake was pretty excited too. 

He might not win any awards for being a dad, but he thought he did okay. Sure, he wasn’t there when they got home from school and he never packed their lunches and he was rarely much help with homework, but that was because they just googled the answer before he got home. But he tried to listen when they spoke even when he was tired and busy even if they might have to repeat themselves a few days later, and he gave them what he could. Including taking them to movies he really didn’t want to see.

He washed the dirt and grease off and changed into a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. ”Are you ready?” he shouted from the bathroom door. 

“Yeah!” Jake yelled back even though Stacker could hear the uneven thumping of Jake running with only one shoe on. 

“Then get in the car.” Next to the front door Mako was waiting, looking a little too stoic to be up to any good. Stacker leaned down to tie his own shoes and spotted why. Jake’s left shoe was hidden behind her feet. “Give him his shoe.” 

She gave him a sweet smile and stepped to the side. “Jake. Your shoe is by the door.” 

He came tearing around the corner, glaring at his sister.

She just smiled back at him. When Jake finally pulled his shoe on, they climbed into the car and headed to the pizzeria next to the movie theater. Jake started in on the recap of his day, telling an almost certainly fake story about how he got into a tag war with the bullies and ended up winning. It had been a long time since Stacker had played tag but he was pretty sure you couldn’t _win._ He didn’t say anything. 

Getting Mako to talk about her day had been like pulling teeth ever since she had officially become a teenager. Sometimes it made him sad but tonight she had a story about her Chemistry teacher doing an experiment outside one of the math classes that had resulted in an explosion and then laughing gleefully when the math teacher shouted at him in German. 

The theater was busy, but it was a Friday night, so he wasn’t sure what else there was to expect. Mako kept talking about the other pranks Geiszler had played on Gottlieb. She lost Jake’s attention when he saw a little brunette girl and he started waving. The other kid saw him and waved back with a big grin on her face. 

“Who is that?” Stacker asked, leaning over to Mako and watching Jake to make sure he didn’t take off running.

“A girl Jake has a crush on. Jamie?” From the look on her face she knew very well that Jamie was not the girl’s name. 

“No, I don’t,” Jake snapped at them. “And her name is Jules.”

They were next in line and Stacker got them popcorn and sodas instead of teasing his kid about this crush. Jake seemed to have a new one every few weeks anyway. 

As they walked into their theater to find their seats Stacker saw Herc with Tendo and Alison going into another theater. Herc spotted him too and nodded which Stacker returned. 

“Who was that?” Mako asked. 

“A client.” Stacker said as the kids settled in their seats. Mako seemed to accept that and Jake couldn’t have been less interested if he tired. The preview started not long after. There was one thing that theaters had managed to improve, assigned seats meant he didn’t need to show up half an hour early.

Through the whole movie Stacker’s eyes kept drifting shut. He was so tired, and the movie wasn’t doing much to hold his interest, especially since he had the feeling that he should know some of the characters. He hadn’t thought they were seeing a sequel, but he hadn’t been paying attention when Raleigh had been talking about it in the shop. 

Next Friday he was just going to pick up some microwave popcorn and Chinese food on the way home and they could watch something on Netflix.


	3. Coffee Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stacker's just trying to get through the week, Herc's trying to make a friend (or flirt no one's sure), and Yancy meddles some more.

7:24 on Thursday morning Stacker opened the back door of the shop. Herc was unloading his truck as usual. “Morning,” Herc said when he saw him, his biceps training at his t-shirt as he carried the box into Alison’s diner. 

“Good morning.” Stacker went back into his shop to balance the books. Tomorrow was payday and it wouldn’t due to not have Yancy’s check ready. A few minutes later Herc knocked on the door. Stacker came out of the office to see Herc standing just outside the door with a box of produce in one arm. “Come on in.”

“Thanks, uh, this is for you,” he said as he came into the garage to hand Stacker the box.

Stacker took the bax and tried not to show how genuinely confused he was. “Do you want a cup of coffee?”

“Love one, thanks.”

Stacker led them back into his office and poured a cup of coffee for Herc and himself and settled into his chair. Herc took the seat across from him, usually the one for clients or when Yancy was waiting for Stacker to finish something on the computer.

“I figured you wouldn’t take just money since you didn’t charge Chuck in the first place,” Herc explained, motioning to the cardboard box that was now sitting on the counter next to the coffee pot. 

“I told you last week that it didn’t take that long.”

Herc fixed him with a look. Stacker got the impression it was a look of calling out bullshit that he used often. “You spent an hour explaining to Chuck how to install it.”

Stacker sipped his coffee. “Did Chuck tell you that?” he asked when Herc didn’t continue. 

“Yancy. And don’t get me wrong, he got the stupid thing installed. I think he finally realized that it’s not the only thing broken.”

Stacker nodded once.

“He came to get more parts, didn’t he?”

Stacker nodded again. 

“God, that kid. He’s not as dumb as he acts, but he thinks it might actually kill him to listen to me.” Despite his words he was laughing as he shook his head. “He’s never fixed anything in his life. He didn't even like Hot Wheels as a kid.”

“Maybe that’s why he needs to fix this.”

Herc was still for a second.

“Yancy claims it’s cathartic.” Herc just continued to stare at him. Stacker wondered if he had overstepped considering he didn't really know the two men that well. Or at all. 

“And what about you?”

“I find paying my bills on time cathartic.” 

Herc's laugh was loud and bright and sudden. “I know that feeling.” He took another drink of his coffee then frowned into the mug. “Thanks for the coffee, mate.” He tossed the paper cup into the bin beside him. “Let me know if there’s anything you and the kids don’t like.”

“Are you going to keep bringing us vegetables?”

“Are you going to start charging my son for you time?”

_Not if it keeps getting me these visits._ Stacker thought but he still couldn’t figure out if Herc was flirting. The looks were long and interested but Stacker was fairly used to that. He was a pretty man and he knew it. Even if Herc wasn’t flirting Stacker could probably still use a friend that had kids the same age as him. “No.”

“Then expect more next Thursday” Herc’s smile was warm and amused, like he was telling a joke with a hidden punchline. He turned to leave and then turned back around like he had just remembered something. “Yany said it was just you and the two kids, is there anyone else? I want to make sure to bring enough.” 

“No. Just the three of us.”

Herc nodded again. “Good. See you Thursday.” 

“Thursday it is.” 

Once Herc was gone Stacker turned back to the computer and reminded himself that neither docking or bonusing Yancy’s pay was a reasonable way to react to his meddling. 

At nine, when Yancy came in Stacker was replacing the back bumper of the Wei Tang brother’s car. They were so close to being done and with another race on Sunday the brothers wanted it sooner rather than later. “What’s with the box of lettuce?” he asked as he walked out of the office door. “Lambert van broke down again? At this point it's gotta be cheaper to just get a new van.”

“It wouldn’t be if they let us actually fix what the problem is,” Stacker said. “Come steady this.” 

Yancy crossed and helped hold the bumper still so Stacker could bolt it in place.

“And the box is from Herc.”

“Huh,” Yancy said but it wasn’t his usual distracted huh. It was the sound in the back of his throat he made when he was avoiding answering a silent question from Stacker. When the bumper was secure Stacker straightened and looked to Yancy. 

“He asked a question and I answered it.” Yancy shrugged. “Come on. Two hot single dads.” 

“Becket, do not involve yourself in my life.”

Yancy huffed a dramatic sigh. “My bad. What’s wrong with the Lambert van?”

* * *

The parts that Chuck had ordered didn't come in until that Saturday but it was their busiest day and when Chuck came in to pick it up Stacker just handed it off with a remark that if he had any questions he could come by on Tuesday when they were open again. 

He wasn’t sure if he would see Chuck on Tuesday but he didn’t let himself think about it. Nor did he have the time to. Sunday, he woke to Jake asking if he could now the lawn for ten dollars. 

“No.”

“But Dad.”

“You can’t start the lawnmower. No.” Stacker dragged himself out of bed and to the kitchen with Jake trailing behind him. “Why do you want ten dollars?” he poured himself a glass of water and took his meds while he started the coffee. 

“I’m going to the shops with Nate and Jules today, remember?” Jake was looking very expectantly up at him. 

Stacker did remember that vaguely. He he also remembered that he said he could only go if all his school work was done. “Is all your school work done?”

Jake made a face to make it look like he was thinking. “Yes.” 

“Really?” 

Jake was quiet for a second and took a deep breath. “Now that I think again there is one thing but it’s almost done so it doesn’t even count.”

“You can’t go until your school work is done, you know that.” Stacker dug around in the fridge and found a small carton of blueberries that Herc had given them. His son was still staring up at him when he turned around. “What do you still need to do?”

“Just the model.”

“The model of what?”

“Jupiter.” Jake dropped his voice to a mumble. “And its moons.”

Somewhere in Sacker’s mind he remembered the Jupiter had a lot of moons. “How many moons?”

“Only the biggest ten.”

_Only._ “When is it due?” Hopefully it wasn’t due until the end of the week so Stacker could cut them both some slack and not work on a model of Jupiter all day.

“Tomorrow.”

“Jake!” Stacker took a deep breath. “Go call your friends, you’re not going anywhere today.” 

“It’s not going to take that long.”

“I don’t care if it only takes twenty minutes. You had all day yesterday to do it. Now go call them.” 

Stacker spent all of Sunday shopping for crafts and trying to build a model. Monday he had a city council meeting and argued for an hour that parks were important and had to do the grocery shopping for the week, which took significantly less time since he had a fridge full of produce. When Tuesday and the peace of the shop in the quiet of the morning came it was a relief. 

That afternoon, though, Chuck came in and asked his questions which he answered as he continued to work on the Namoni sedan. The useful thing about that was Yacy even fielded a few questions of his own and there were cars, though not as old, or the same make and model but close enough they could make a point. 

After Chuck left Yancy look at Stacker and said, “He’s not so bad as long as he’s not talking and I can’t see him.”

Finally, it was 7:24 on Thursday and Stacker didn’t know when he started to see it as a relief to see Herc, but he also wondered if Herc would actually be there again. They said their good mornings and just as Herc had done the two weeks before he knocked and waited for Stacker to wave him in.

“If you’re going to keep bringing me food you can just come in. Coffee?”

“Please. I’ll keep that in mind.” 

Stacker poured them each a cup of coffee and they each took seats as they had a week ago. 

“So how long was he here yesterday?”

“A few hours.”

“Jesus Christ, Stack. You’ve gotta send him home. He knows how to google.” Herc laughed. 

“Yancy suggested that to him.”

“That go well?”

“Excellent.”

“I bet. He got so mad at YouTube he put a new dent in the shop wall.” 

Stacker let himself laugh a little. “If it’s any consolation I spent all of Sunday building a model of Jupiter that was due on Monday that Jake had known about for three weeks.”

Herc laughed into his coffee. “I remember that project. It was the first year after we moved out here. My mother spent hours working with Chuck on it. He did that star. Oh, fuck, what’s it called? Sirius. That was horrible.”

Stacker laughed because, yeah, it had been horrible. “You’re from the city?”

Herc nodded but then shrugged. “I grew up here. But Chuck was born in town. My mom got sick after my divorce and I thought the change of pace would be good for him. So every other Friday I’d drive him to his mom’s after school and Sunday I’d drive to go get him.”

“Did it help?”

“Some days I think so. Some days I’m not sure if I made it worse.” Herc took a deep breath and put away the distant expression. “But that’s not seven am coffee conversation; that’s beer conversation. What about your kids?”

“Mako, the oldest, I knew her parents before they died and she didn't have any family to take her in so we adopted her. Two years later my wife and I had Jake and two years after that we were driving home and some bloke came out of nowhere, hit us. She died at the hospital.” It still stung a little to talk about Jacquline but after the amount of therapy and support groups he had been to he was able to get through the story without tearing up. 

“Shit, I’m sorry, mate. Turns out how we both got to be single dads doesn’t go great with coffee first thing in the morning. For that I owe you a beer.” 

“I’ll hold you to that.” 

“Please do. I gotta go, though. I’ll see you around, Stacker,” Herc said as he got up from the chair and tossed away the paper cup. 

“Bye, Herc.” 

_What was that?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope all three of you reading this fic enjoy this new chapter!!


	4. Keys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Chois have a housewarming party where Stacker and Herc are able to catch up.

“They’ve lived here for ages. Why do we have to bring them flowers?” Jake whined as he climbed out of the back of the car, pulling the hanging basket with him. 

“Because it’s a housewarming party and you bring things to make the new home feel more comfortable,” Stacker explained for the fourth time, feeling his patience getting thin. He tried hard not to use the “because I said so” reason but Jake made it a challenge. 

“But they’ve already been here a long time!”

“Jake. It’s what you do. Our friends invited us for a party and we are bringing them a nice hanging basket of flowers,” Stacker said, taking the basket since Jake wasn’t really tall enough to manage it without dragging it across the sidewalk. 

Mako knocked on the door when they came to the door and it was opened a few seconds later by Alison, one hand on her six month pregnant belly. “Come in, come in,” she said, moving out of the way for Mako and Jake to slip in and go find the people their own age. 

“These are for you,” Stacker said, holding the flowers up. 

“Oh, thank you. Just leave them on the poarch there. It’ll give Tendo a reason to actually get out the ladder and change the porch lights like he’s been promising for months,” she said with a laugh. 

“Pre-baby to-do list?” Stacker said with a smile. He remembered when his wife had been pregnant with Jake and even though they already had one child the list of things they needed to take care of before a baby swallowed their whole lives seemed endless. 

“Yes! When does it calm down?” 

“When I’ve figured that out I’ll let you know,” Stacker said. 

“Thanks. That’s inspiring,” she said, deadpan. She turned to sit back down on the couch with her mother and pointed straight back to where Stacker could see people in the backyard. “You know where everything is. Most everyone’s in the back.” 

Stacker nodded to her and went back into the backyard where there were probably fifteen people, most of which Stacker knew. It wasn’t hard to know most people at a party in a town as small as theirs but it was still a comfort to be able to know the people he was around. He could at least let the kids run wild without having to worry too much. 

Tendo waved him over to the table where five or so people were sitting drinking. He grabbed a beer on his way over and sat down in the only empty chair. “Glad you could make it,” Tendo said. 

“You might not be when your wife makes you hang up the flower basket Mako and Jake picked out,” Stacker said, taking a drink of beer. 

“Well I guess that answers what I’m doing on my next day off,” Tendo said but he was still smiling. 

“If you need any help you know where to find me,” Stacker said. A few more people around the table grumbled their agreements including Herc who happened to be in the chair right next to Stacker. 

“I knew there was a reason I liked you. Signing up to babysit before the baby’s even here,” Tendo said with a grin. 

Everyone around the table laughed and then diverged into a few different topics. “How’s it going?” Herc asked him. He looked good, relaxed with his head against the back of the chair and turned towards Stacker. 

“Fine. Good to be out of the garage and see the actual sun,” Stacker said, suppressing a smile. “You?”

“Nice to be able to sit down for a minute,” Herc said with a smile. “Not to mention it’s keeping him out of trouble. As long as he doesn’t pick a fight with one of the other kids.” Herc made a face like the odds of Chuck behaving were fifty-fifty at best. 

“Mako can take him,” Stacker said. 

“No doubt. He was in the boxing club with her for a while last year. I saw them fight; kid never stood a chance.” Herc took a drink of his beer without taking his eyes off of Stacker who felt his heart give a hard thud. There was something unfairly attractive about Herc in afternoon sunlight and a smile on his face. “She’s fast.”

“Her mom taught her how to fight before we adopted her and afterwards we couldn't have stopped her if we tried.”

Herc laughed. “Jake box too?” 

“Yeah, keeps him out of trouble. Or that’s what I tell myself. Why did Chuck stop boxing?”

“He didn’t, but he lost it during a fight so he couldn't fight at the school anymore. Trains at the club that Sasha and Alexis run.” 

Stacker laughed. “I’m sure they can slow him down when he needs it.” 

“Between that and fixing the car he’s almost calm some days.” Herc laughed for a second shaking his head, clearly lost in thought. “That car’s a fuckin’ nightmare.”

“It can’t be as bad as you think it is.”

Herc fixed him with a look. “I don’t know shit about cars but I know what noises are bad. And when it’s too broken to make even those noises I know it’s beyond.”

“If it’s not on fire then you can fix it,” Stacker said. 

“I’ll have to take your word for it. I was never much of a fixer; too good at breaking shit,” Herc said with a small laugh. 

“So that’s where he gets it,” Stacker said, in a very serious tone. It felt light and easy, like what flirting was supposed to be. The only problem was that Stacker couldn’t figure out if they were flirting. 

“I never claimed he didn’t get it from me.” Herc took another drink and found his bottle empty. “I’m gettin’ another beer. You want one?”

“I’m alright,” Stacker said, lifting his beer in some sort of show that something was still in the dark bottle. 

Herc nodded and got up from the chair. It took an embarrassing amount of effort not to watch him go, but he did manage it. “Hey, Stacker, what’s goin’ on with that park proposal?” Nathan Lambert asked, the dad of Jake’s current best friend. 

Stacker was quickly pulled into the conversation about the town and joking about the politics of a town of only ten thousand. It shouldn’t have been that complicated, but people sure knew how to make a fuss. It was hours of floating between easy conversations with people about any range of topics from movies to cars to music to whether or not Mr. Cole from the bank was having a midlife crisis —he had a new sports car and hair plugs so the prevailing theory was yes. 

The sun was setting and the backyard lights were flickering on when it sounded like something was knocked over and shouting started. Everyone turned to look and as soon as they did Stacker, Yancy, and Herc were out of their chairs and were running across the lawn to break up the fight that had just broken out between Raleigh and Chuck. Herc pulled at his son and Yancy pulled at his brother as Stacker stepped between them. “Stop it! It’s over!” he yelled. 

They both stopped resisting, their expressions still twisted up in anger, practically snarling at each other. “What the hell was that?” Herc yelled. Chuck yanked himself out of his father’s grip and turned towards Raleigh again. “Go wait by the truck. Now.” 

For a long second it looked like Chuck was going to make another go at Raleigh. “Whatever. This isn’t over, Becket,” Chuck growled as he walked away. 

“Yes, it is!” Herc, Yancy, and Stacker all yelled together. 

Yancy let go of Raleigh who turned to face him. “What was that? You know what? Don’t answer me.” Yancy took a breath. “We will deal with that later for now…” 

Stacker and Herc both stopped listening as they turned towards the street. Stacker knew the sound of Herc’s truck well; 7:20 am on Thursdays was marked with the sound of the engine in the alley but now it started and then began to fade away. 

“That little shit,” Herc said, running to the fence to see that his truck was in fact gone now. “Knew I should have got my keys back after he got his jacket earlier.”

Yancy’s eyes were wide as he looked between Herc and Raleigh. “Great. Perfect. Herc, I’ll drive you home after I drop off Raleigh.”

Herc shook his head. “You don’t need to do that, I’ll take a taxi.”

“You live like forty minutes outside of town, no way,” Yancy argued. 

“He’s right, that’ll cost a fortune. I’ll drive you home.” When Yancy opened his mouth to argue Stacker continued, pointing a finger at Raleigh. “I saw Chuck get a nice hit to his head, you need to make sure he doesn’t have too bad of a concussion.”

“I don’t have a concussion,” Raleigh argued.

“Let’s hope not.” He turned to Mako. “Start saying goodbye to people. I’ll get your brother in a second.”

“I’ll get him,” Mako said and then went off into the crowd of people that were standing about ten feet away from their small group to start saying goodbye to the Chois before finding her brother and dragging him away from whatever game he was playing with Nate and Jules. 

“I’ll bring you gas money on Tuesday when I come in, least I can do,” Yancy said, still trying to help even though he knew that Stacker was right. He needed to keep an eye on Raleigh to make sure he was fine and he still needed to ground him, which was something Yancy still struggled with figuring out. He wasn’t a parent and figuring out discipline was taking him a while to get the hang of. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Stacker said, waving him off. 

“Already worried about it. Come on, Rals. Let’s get home so I can figure out which of your privileges to cut.” Yancy turned and Raleigh followed him but Stacker could hear him coming up with ideas. “Should I get a prepaid phone from the 7-11 so you can only call me? Or what about taking your laptop away and making you do your homework at the public library? Or what about…”

“Listen, mate, you really don’t need to,” Herc started.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s not that late. I’ve got the time and the kids will be fine,” Stacker said as they walked over to Tendo. 

“Sorry about this, mate,” Herc said to Tendo. 

“No worries. Gave me a look into my future and gotta say, not into it,” Tendo said with a laugh. 

“Just don’t let your kid hold onto your keys and you’ll be fine,” Herc said with a clap on Tendo’s shoulder. 

“I’ll remember that. I’ll see you both around,” Tendo said with a smile. As they passed Alison who had come to the back door when she’d heard the commotion Herc gave another apologetic smile. 

“Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. Maybe more people will take it as a cue to leave and get out of my house,” Alison said with a laugh. “He’s not even here yet and I’m exhausted all the time.” 

“You’ll have peace soon enough. Nothing breaks up a party like two teenagers getting into a backyard fight,” Herc said. 

“Good. I’ll see you later.”

Mako and Jake were by the door while Jake pulled his shoes back on when Stacker walked up. They left with one final wave to everyone. Outside Stacker looked to Jake and Mako. “I’m giving Herc a ride home tonight. I can either take you with us out to his farm or I can drop you off at home before we leave.”

“How far is his farm?” Jake asked. 

“About forty minutes out,” Herc answered as he climbed into the front seat and the kids crawled in the back. 

“Home,” Jake and Mako said in unison. Stacker wasn’t surprised that neither of them wanted to be trapped in the car that long with someone they didn’t know when being home alone was on the table. 

“Fine. Home it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow so this took a while to get out. This is why I shouldn't make promises about when I'm posting. Like always this wasn't beta read so...


	5. I like You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stacker and Herc take a ride.

Stacker dropped Mako and Jake off at home with permission for Jake to stay up until Stacker got home and instructions for Mako to call him if anything caught on fire. Both agreed and ran into the house while Stacker watched until they had locked the door behind them. 

“Good kids,” Herc said as they pulled out of the driveway.

“People say that but the only reason Jake hasn’t stolen my car yet is that he can’t reach the pedals,” Stacker said. “You’re going to have to give me directions.”

“Just head east on the highway for about half an hour. I’ll tell you when to turn from there,” Herc said, settling into the seat a little easier as they pulled onto the main road. He seemed more relaxed now that the kids were gone. 

The sun had gone down while they had been dropping off the kids and the last of the twilight was fading quickly. The radio was playing quietly and streetlights flooded the car with soft yellow light every few seconds, the gaps getting longer the farther out of town they got. It was relaxing, but Stacker had always found driving relaxing, even after the accident. There was something peaceful to it especially when you were riding with someone you could let your guard down with. Which wasn’t right, because Stacker didn’t know Herc well enough to trust him. His attraction to the man didn’t mean he should be quite as relaxed as he was in the quiet car, but there he was. 

“He’s a good kid, under it all,” Herc said, he was looking at Stacker when he glanced over. “Just a little mixed up.”

“I didn’t say he wasn’t.”

“I know, but I also know what people think of him and me when they see him like that,” Herc said with a shrug. He turned back to look out the windshield. 

Stacker didn’t say anything just nodded slowly. 

“You can say it.”

“He’s an egotistical jerk with more issues than I can to learn about,” Stacker said. He didn’t say that he thought most of those issues were in regards to Herc himself. No need to kick the man while he was down. 

Herc laughed. “That’s one of the nicer ways to put it. Tendo just calls him an asshole.”

“Well…” 

Herc laughed again, harder this time. “And you should hear the things Yancy says about him.”

Stacker laughed a little. “I do.”

“Oh, I bet. He wouldn’t have to hold back for you, you’re not his dad.”

“I don’t think that would slow down either Becket.”

Herc just laughed for a while. “I try to tell people he wasn’t always like this. He used to be soft but after his mum left…” Herc shook his head, “it went to hell.”

Stacker just hummed. It seemed like Herc wanted to get something off his chest and if he didn’t interrupt maybe he’d learn something new.

“I try not to blame her. She tried but she never wanted to be a mum but we were young when she got pregnant and there just weren't a lot of options at the time,” Herc explained. “But you can’t tell your kid that his mother never wanted him and that’s why she never calls.”

Stacker hummed in agreement. He was learning a lot more than he had thought. It explained a lot about the whole dynamic between the Hansens. 

Herc continued, more frustrated with every word. “I didn’t cheat on her. That’s what she told him when he asked her why she was moving away. Which I guess I’d rather her have said that than "well I just don’t want to be your mother so I’ve decided to take a position in your life closer to distant aunt".” He took a deep sigh and seemed to regain his calm. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this.”

Stacker just hummed again because what else was he supposed to do? 

“It’s just Chuck likes you and I like you and I don’t want him telling you something about me that’s not true and have you believe it.”

Stacker let the silence hang for a second to see if Herc would go on. “Okay. If your son decides to unload his problems on me the next time he’s in the shop I won’t believe him.” He chanced a look at Herc who was already looking at him and smiling. 

“I appreciate it.” 

They were fully out of the town by then and Stacker turned on his brights to combat the darkness that surrounded them. There was no one else on the road with them, it wasn't that late but it was a Sunday and they were on the opposite side of the town as the city so there wasn’t anyone coming home after a day in town passing them. Stacker had expected that they would at least see the taillights of the truck by then but there was nothing. Chuck must have been speeding pretty heavily to get that far ahead of them. 

They fell back into silence as they drove. Stacker found himself searching his mind for something he could share with Herc in exchange. It felt like Herc had given over some grand trust to him and he hadn’t offered anything in return. 

“Last year, the Friday before Mother’s Day Jake’s school was having the kids make cards for their mums in class and Jake was drawing robots on his paper and one of the other kids asked him if his mum liked robots and Jake said she was dead and the kid must have said something else because Jake hit him..and then bit him.”

“He bit him?” There was no small amount of amusement in his voice. 

Stacker nodded. “The other parents were furious, they wanted him suspended. The school let it go.”

“I would hope.”

“I didn’t know what to do so I ended up taking him out for ice cream,” Stacker said. It had been one of the most confusing situations he’d been in since Jacquline had died. He couldn’t be upset with Jake considering what the situation had been but he also didn’t want to encourage fighting. They’d talked over the ice cream but Jake had been much more invested in his banana split than he had been in Stacker’s lecture on self-control. 

“I would have done the same damn thing,” Herc said with a laugh. He sat up a little in his seat and pointed out at a bush. “The turn is right behind that bush. Someone should cut it one of these days, I miss the damn turn more than I should, especially since I live here.”

Stacker turned onto the dirt road. Herc watched closely as they drove past an archway that turned into another farm. “It’s the next one on this road.”

Stacker nodded and kept an eye out. Eventually, the light caught on another wooden archway and he turned under it onto a long gravel driveway but Stacker could see two buildings with their lights on, one that he assumed was the house and the other that seemed to be a garage. There were more dark shapes around that he couldn’t make out in the dark. 

“That damn car,” Herc grumbled. He unbuckled his seatbelt as they pulled up in front of the buildings. “Thank you again for the ride. I owe you one.”

“It’s fine.”

Herc shook his head. “I’ll see you Thursday.” Stacker waited as he got out of the car and until he had walked far enough away that Stacker didn't need to worry about hitting him before he turned around and headed home. 

As he made the drive back he thought about what Herc had said about Chuck liking him. Chuck didn’t act like they were friends or like Chuck wanted to be anything of the sort for which Stacker was glad. Which pretty much left that Chuck had managed to scrounge up some actual respect for Stacker from somewhere inside of him.

He tried not to think too much about Herc saying that he liked him too but that was a lost cause. It was on repeat with the same thoughts about how beautiful Herc looked in the late afternoon sun, only interrupted every few minutes by thoughts of hoping the kids were okay at home.

* * *

That Tuesday Chuck came in after school and received a glare from Yancy as he walked in. Stacker didn’t stop working but when Chuck came to stand on the other side of the car Stacker looked up at him. He was blushing but Stacker didn’t say anything, just waited for Chuck to say his piece. “You should have let him find his own way home.”

“That doesn’t sound like an apology for stranding your father and leaving us to clean up your temper tantrum,” Stacker said evenly. Yancy snorted a laugh on the other side of the room and didn’t even have the good sense to look sorry when Stacker shot him a look. 

Chuck scoffed. “I’m not here to apologize.”

“Then leave.”

Chuck looked surprised and even a little hurt for a brief second before he schooled his expression into his go-to sneering glare. “Fine.”

Wednesday Chuck was back. “I’m sorry for ditching my dad where you felt like you had to drive him home or whatever.”

Stacker looked up and while the apology could still use work he would take it for now. “Okay.”

Chuck looked a little uncomfortable and he kept looking at Yancy who was still glaring at him. “‘Kay. Whatever,” he said and then left.

Yancy looked at Stacker as soon as Chuck was out of earshot. “You just looked at him and he felt bad. You are such a dad.”

“I am a dad.”

“I know but like that’s levels,” Yancy said with a shrug before going back to his work. 

Once Yancy wasn’t looking Stacker let his amused smile loose as he went back to work.

At 7:24 on Thursday Stacker opened the back door and saw Herc. “I see you have your truck back.”

“Funny,” Herc said before disappearing into the diner. 

Stacker smiled back and went back to work. Herc came in a few minutes later with a box in hand. Stacker grabbed the box that he had brought last week. He had started to do that after the fourth week and he realized he was accumulating far too many boxes and that Herc did not have an unlimited supply for Stacker to hoard. 

Stacker poured Herc a cup of coffee and handed it to him as they sat in the office. “Did he come apologize to you?”

Stacker nodded in a way that showed that Chuck had done a bad job but he had tried.

Herc gave him a smile that said he understood the message. “Good. It was part of the terms of his grounding.”

“He should be glad that Yancy isn’t the one who drove you home. He was not impressed with either attempt at the apology.”

Herc laughed and for a while, they let the conversation float by easily until the coffee was gone and it was time for them to both get back to work. “Thanks for the coffee.”

“Thanks for the food,” Stacker said. It was how they ended every one of their weekly coffee breaks. 

Herc looked like he remembered something. “There’s bread in there too. A little extra thank you.”

Stacker opened the box and sure enough, there was a loaf of bread in a plastic bag inside. “Thank you.”

“Let me know what the kids think. I started baking a few years back but Chuck never gives me an honest review.”

Stacker couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Chuck biting into a piece of bread and saying it was shit even as he had two more pieces. “I will.”

“See you, Stacks.”

“Bye, Herc.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to find my tumblr I am [ProblemWithTrouble](https://problemwithtrouble.tumblr.com)


End file.
